Ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) can identify material from a sample of interest by ionizing the material (e.g., molecules, atoms, and so forth) and measuring the time it takes the resulting ions to reach a detector. The ion's time of flight is associated with its ion mobility that relates to the mass and geometry of the molecule that was ionized. The detector's output can be visually represented as a plasmagram of peak height versus drift time.
At times, it can be difficult to identify some ions represented in a plasmagram. Contaminants, operating conditions, ions with similar geometries and masses and so on can impact an IMS's ability to detect and identify ions. For example, a sample that is contaminated may have a misshapen or a comparatively small peak height.